Is it all just an illusion
by jennaravenrose
Summary: Sarah isn't all she seems
1. Chapter 1

Title: Is it all just illusion

Author: Jennaravenrose

Timeline: after movie

After Caleb's battle with chase they went to the dance. Though none of them seemed like they were in much of a partying mood. Not with Pogue in the hospital and Kate. Though Pogue was released from the hospital a few days later it wasn't until a week later he was able to be up to his old self again. Sarah had gotten a lot closer to all of them. In the weeks following the battle with Chase

The boys were still up to their old ways however and unreleased tension had them in the alleyway again. Having yet another fight about Reid using. Sarah watched them walk out the door and went towards the bathroom. After checking to see if she was alone she made a phone call. "They're ready pick up in ten minutes behind a club called nick'y, I'm securing" said Sarah.

She pulled a gun out from under the skirt she had been wearing and loaded the knock out darts. "I'm sorry Caleb" she whispered and walked out side.

She stayed in the shadows. Caleb was arguing with Reid again. Tyler and pogue stood off to the side not knowing whose side to take.

Sarah took aim at Pogue because he was the nearest and fired. She hit him on the side of the neck. When he started to waver and go down Tyler went to his side. It gave her a clear shot so she took it. She also hit him in the neck but he managed to pull the dart out before collapseing."Guys" he whispered before falling. Reid saw Pogue go down then Tyler and forgot his argument with Caleb in order to see what was wrong with his friends.

She shot him in the throat before he reached their side. Caleb turned towards Reid and was waking up behind him when he collapsed. Caleb caught him on the way down. "Reid what's the matter?" he asked. Reid was already too far out of it to answer. Caleb heard the gravel crunch and half expected Chase to step out of the shadows. He looked relieved when he saw Sarah "Sarah something's happened we have to get them to a doctor." Said Caleb. "You are" said Sarah then she shot Caleb. He looked at her in disbelief before he reached up and pulled the empty dart out of his neck "Sarah?" he whispered before he collapsed.

She waited a second then checked his pulse. Then picked up her phone and hit redial. "It's done, Extract," she said into it. She stood up and walked over to Reid. She pulled the dart out of his neck and dropped it back into its carrying case. She did the same with the others.

A van pulled up and opened the back doors. Two guys got out and grabbed Tyler by the shoulders and feet. They put him in the van then grabbed Pogue and Reid and at last Caleb. When they were done Sarah climbed in back with the boys and closed the door.

"You did good," said the driver. "No I didn't I got sloppy" said Sarah. "What about the other one, Chase?" asked the passenger. "He was a nut case and he's been eliminated," said Sarah. "Nut case? That's hardly professional," said the driver "fine he had a personality defect beyond repair, his mind was fractured, sound better?" she answered. The driver chuckled. "I take it your riding in with these ones?" asked the passenger. "Yes I'm going to do intake myself," said Sarah.

They were pulling onto a military base. The driver showed an ID and the guard waved them on. They drove towards the hangers. To a waiting harrier jet. Several guys in whit lab coats were waiting for them with gurneys.

The van stopped and Sarah opened the back door. Two of the guys grabbed Caleb and set him on a gurney. Strapped a collar around his neck and strapped him down

completely. Then they rolled him towards the jet and up its loading ramp. They did the same with all of them and Sarah followed the one carrying Tyler onto the jet. "Cargo secure for take off" said the guy who was strapping the gurneys down to the flight deck. Sarah took a seat in a crash seat and strapped in.

She felt the engines start underneath her and leaned back in her seat. She felt the harrier lift vertically and watched the gurneys with her friends. The cargo netting held like it was supposed to. She was pressed forward some as the planed accelerated. She closed her eyes she felt rotten. Not because she was ill but because Caleb had trusted her and she was betraying that trust. Had started out to betray it in the first place.

Though falling for him had been unplanned. She was just supposed to secure the ones on the list. She hadn't counted on Chase being crazy or Caleb being honest with her. When he told her the others could do what he did, she was elated and bargained with her superiors to exchange the others for Chases place.

Chase wouldn't have been a good fit on this project anyways he was too unstable. She saw the other soldiers un strap and decided to do the same, just to stretch her legs. She walked over and checked on the boys. They were sleeping peacefully under the effects of the tranquillizer. She touched Caleb's neck where she had shot him. There was a thin trail of blood.

She closed her eyes and put her hand above the wound. It closed under her touch. "I'm sorry, lover" she whispered and kissed his forehead. She walked over to the others. Listened to their breathing and took their pulse. It was steady and correct. She touched each of their foreheads. She would be there when they woke up.

The flight seemed to take forever and Sarah was worried she would have to traq them again. Then she heard the pilot request landing clearance and give the code. He received approval and the plane began to get ready to land. Sarah once again strapped herself in and waited till they were on the ground. She felt the landing gear touch ground and the pilot began shutting down the engines. Then he opened the cargo doors. Sarah stared out at the landing bay. It felt good to be home again.

Even if home was a secure government installation in the middle of nowhere that everyone thought was a myth. She walked down the loading ramp and came face to face with one of her bosses. She saluted, even though she wasn't in the military.

"Welcome back Ms Wenham we missed you" said the general. "Thank you sir its good to be home," said Sarah. The general was watching the men roll the gurneys down the ramp. "Did you have any problems?" asked the general "no sir just with the one listed on my report" said Sarah "yes the Collins kid, tragic that, wish we could have secured him sooner" said the general. "I believe these ones are more suited to our expectations," said Sarah.

"Yes well I would hope so, I've heard you wish to do intake on them yourself?" said the general. "Yes sir, I requested it, I've placed a great deal of personal time securing them" said Sarah "as well as an emotional investment?' queried the general. "Yes sir, that was unplanned for" said Sarah. 'Love is never planned for child it just happens" said the general. "Your request is approved, Ms Wenham, make us proud" said the general.

That was one of his dismissals so Sarah followed the retreating gurneys to the med lab. They were going to do a full lab work up on the boys.


	2. Chapter 2

Illusion 2

The lab techs seemed to take forever. So Sarah urged them to hurry. The last thing she wanted was the boys attempting to use in here. Even if he collars would stop them before they managed to do very much Sarah didn't want them hurting themselves. She was relieved when the nurse finally called her examination complete and the guards started to move them to a holding cell. Sarah went with them and waited inside the cell for the tranquillizer to wear off.

She sat there and waited until she heard Pogue moan. "What the fuck happened?" she heard him say. Sarah almost laughed. She walked over to Pogue's gurney. "Pogue?" she said "Sarah?" he said, "What happened? Where's Kate?" said Pogue he obviously thought he had been kidnapped. "Kate's fine she's still in Ipswich" said Sarah. "Then why are you here and where is here?" said Pogue. He tried to move his hand and found that he couldn't "Sarah why am I tied up?" said Pogue. "Its ok I'll release you in a minute" said Sarah. "Release me now I've got to warn the others" said Pogue

"Pogue the others are next to you, try to relax your safe, no ones going to hurt you," said Sarah. "Sarah what is wrong with you untie me so we can leave" said Pogue. She heard Tyler moan, "Not yet I've got to check on Tyler sit tight all right," said Sarah.

Pogue put his head back down in frustration. Sarah was acting way to weird for his blood. He closed his eyes for a second and then tried to use. The second he tapped the power he felt a blinding pain in his temple. He screamed in response. Sarah came back over "Pogue stop trying to use, its only going to hurt you more if you try" said Sarah. Pogue relaxed with a sob. "Sarah help us, why is this happening?" he whispered.

"Shush its ok, I'll tell you everything in a minute, but I've got to see to the others." Said Sarah.

Then she thought about it and released the straps on his legs and the rest of him. "Sit up slowly, and don't mess with the collar It'll shock you if you do, move around a little, you need to get the tranquillizer out of your system" said Sarah.

Then she moved towards Tyler's gurney. Pogue sat up slowly and looked around. There were three other gurneys in the room. Each of them occupied by one of his brothers. He looked around there wasn't a fifth so how had Sarah gotten in here? He heard her whisper the same thing to Tyler that she had just said to him. Then she unstrapped him as well. Tyler shakily sat up."Pogue what's happening?" said Tyler

"I don't know yet," said Pogue. He shifted his legs off the gurney and tried to stand up. He wobbled and almost went down. His legs felt like rubber. "Try and walk off the tranquillizer like she said Baby Boy" said Pogue Tyler reached up and touched his neck. "What's this?" he asked. "Its called an inhibitor collar and it shocks you if you try to remove it or use" said Sarah. She had moved towards Reid and was whispering the same thing she had said to them to him. Then she unstrapped the struggling teen. He sat up quickly and then leaned on his arm when the swift movement made him dizzy. "What the fuck is going on?" said Reid. "I'll explain in a moment try to remain calm," said Sarah "calm? Girlfriend I just woke up strapped to a table I am anything but calm right now" said Reid. "Well then use that energy to walk off the drugs effects" said Sarah "how do you know the drugs effects?" said Tyler. "Yeah how do you know that?" said Pogue. He was trying to walk and he was all wobbly doing it.

"I'll explain in a second" she said then went towards Caleb. "You can start by explaining why you shot us," said Caleb "wait she shot us?" said Reid he took a wobbly step towards her. "I'll explain everything in a second just hold on," said Sarah. She was working on releasing the straps. She finally released the last one and Caleb sat slowly up. "You need to move around, walk off its effects" said Sarah.

Caleb glared at her but slid his legs off of the gurney. Slowly he lowered his feet to the floor. He had to hang on to the gurney to keep from falling. He refused Sarah's offer of assistance.

"Start explaining" said Caleb. "Yeah start with where the fuck we are and why you ain't tranqed" said Pogue. "Well you're in area 51 and I'm not tranquillized because I work here," said Sarah. "You what?" said Caleb "we're where?" said Tyler.

"I'm sorry Caleb I know your angry" said Sarah. "Angry? Angry doesn't even come close to what I'm feeling right now" said Caleb. He turned away from her and started hobbling around the room. She looked at the others and they all looked away, except Tyler. He looked hurt but still he asked "why? we trusted you" said Tyler. "I know and I'm so sorry I never wanted to hurt you guys," said Sarah. "But you did" said Tyler then he hobbled towards his friends. The others had put their hands on Caleb's back in a comforting gesture.

Sarah's betrayal was hitting him the hardest and that hurt her the most. She turned and signaled for them to unlock the door. She walked out and stifled the tears rising to her eyes. She loved Caleb, honestly loved him and the last thing she wanted was to hurt him. She walked down the hallway and ran into the professor. "So how did it go?" he asked

She sighed, "They hate me," she said. "They'll get over it especially when they realize you're their only real friend here" said the professor. "God I hope so" said Sarah. She sat down and put her head in her hands.

The professor put his hand on her shoulder "give them time Hun, but in the meantime we can always see how bad it really is?' said the professor. "Isn't it bad enough I already spied on them?" said Sarah "yes but they didn't know you were" said the professor. "Besides remember all the perks your abilities have brought you?" said the professor. Sarah smiled "yeah but its so damn hard to maintain in that much steam" said Sarah. The professor laughed and flicked on a switch. The room the boy's were in came into view.

They were arguing about something. The professor turned up the microphone amplifier.

"I say swe just bust out of here" said Reid "yeah but what about these collars," said Pogue. "What about them, you don't believe her do you?" said Reid. "She could be telling the truth on that part Reid" said Tyler. "Do you want to stay around here and let the scientists play pin cushion?" said Reid.

"No not really but I want to know what's going on first?" said Caleb. "What's going on is your girlfriend betrayed us to the fucking government man" said Reid Sarah lowered her head, that had just made her feel awful. The professor thumped her on the back. "I don't know we should at least hear her out" said Caleb "hear her out man are you listening to yourself?" said Pogue.

"Pogue she has to have an explanation for this" said Caleb. "Look man I like her to, or I used to but she fucked us all right get over her" said Pogue. "Not necessarily we don't even know why were here" said Tyler. "Were here to be government guinea pigs what else to you think we are here for?" said Reid.

Sarah sighed this was going to take a lot of work to regain their trust. "Now might be a good time for some heart to heart," said the professor. "Or to let them vent?" said Sarah. The professor rose his eyebrows "what did you have in mind?" asked the professor. "I'm going to explain then let them vent their anger" said Sarah. "How so?" said the professor

"By letting them attack me," said Sarah. "Ah Sarah your forgetting one thing" said the professor. "What's that?" said Sarah. "If we remove the collars the first thing they'll do is head for the door" said the professor. "Then don't put us in a room with a door" said Sarah. "Sarah honey I know you can fix the damage they do to you but this isn't a real good idea what if they kill you?" said the professor "getting hit by a train didn't kill me and it was far less painful then this" said Sarah.


	3. Chapter 3

Illusion 3

Sarah steeled herself before walking back into that room. She wasn't sure how she was going to do this but she had to. She walked into the cell and they turned to glare at her. "I need you to come with me," she said. They stared at her and ignored her. "Guys come on," said Sarah. They turned away from her. "Very well have it your way, guards" said Sarah. Two huge guys walked into the room. "Bring Simms with me" said Sarah. She used the coldest voice she could summon.

The boys stepped between the guards and Tyler. Sarah sighed so they wanted to play that way did they. She reached into her pocket and flipped a switch. The two in the front, Pogue and Reid screamed and grabbed their heads. Caleb yelled at her to stop it. "Then step aside," said Sarah. Caleb glared at her. "Caleb its ok I'll go with her" said Tyler he sounded scared. She turned off the device and the boys were gasping for breath on the floor.

"Tyler" said Sarah. Tyler swallowed and walked forward. The two guards grabbed his arms and dragged him from the room. Sarah followed the boy out of the room. The guards led him down a hallway. The guards stopped in front of a door and Sarah keyed in a code. The guards pushed Tyler forward. "Thank you I'll take it from here" she said. She led Tyler into the room and closed the door. Tyler stayed by the door glaring at her. The room was empty except for a table.

"Tyler please sit down," said Sarah. He glared at her and leaned on the door. He didn't know what was going on but he was determined not to cooperate. Sarah took out the remote and glared at him back. Her finger poised above the switch. "You won't do it," he said. Thinking he was calling her bluff. Sarah flipped the switch. Tyler fell to his knees and screamed. She left it on for a few seconds then shut it off.

"Tyler sit down" this time she said it like a command."Bitch" he hissed through clenched teeth. She reached for the switch again. "Go ahead, kill me I don't care but I'm not obeying you" he stated defiantly. Sarah walked closer and kneeled down next to him. "Did that hurt?" she asked. She knew it had but she was trying to goad the boy.

He looked at her in defiance "you know it did" he said. "And I suppose you want to hurt me back for it" said Sarah. "Damn strait" he hissed. Sarah had her hand on the back of his neck. She inserted a small specially shaped key and the collar released. "Now's your chance' she said and stood up holding the collar up within view.

His hand reflexatively went to his neck and found the annoying collar missing. He pulled on the power and his eyes went black. A second later she was hit with the desk. The blow knocked her into the wall. Sarah shook her head and stood up. "Is that all your going to do?" she said teasing him.

He responded by looking pissed off then he threw the chair at her and the desk again. Using it like a club to smack her into the far wall. She shook her head and tried to get back up. "We trusted you," he yelled. "Caleb loved you, how could you do this to us?" he yelled before fling a ball of energy at her. She hit the wall harder than before and went unconscious for a second. Her body was bent at a weird angle. Tyler froze; she wasn't getting back up this time. "Sarah?" he said. His anger was rapidly dissipating in favor of fear. He was worried he had killed her. He walked over to her and noticed one of the chair legs was sticking out of her side.

"Oh shit, hold on Sarah don't die on me please," said Tyler. He ran over to the door and started banging on it frantically. "Help I need a doctor Sarah's hurt help!" he screamed. The door opened and two armed guards aimed weapons at him and ordered for him to step back. The doctor walked over to Sarah and knelt beside her. Then he grasped the chair leg and pulled it out with an unceremonious yank. Sarah sat up with a gasp.

"You ok" asked the doctor. "Yeah I'm fine," said Sarah. Tyler was standing off to the side under heavy guard. The doctor let her stand up. "Do you still need a few minutes?" he asked. "Yeah I need to talk to him," said Sarah. The doctor waved off the guards and ushered them from the room then followed them himself.

Tyler walked over to her. He was in shock, he wasn't sure what had just happened. "Sarah?' he said. "I'm all right Tyler," she said "I could have killed you," he said. "Yes well maybe are you still mad at me though," said Sarah. "A little but not as much as before" he answered honestly

Sarah nodded "are you ready to cooperate without this?" she asked. She held up the collar "as far as that's concerned you can throw it away" said Tyler. "Good I hate them anyways," said Sarah. "Then why did you use them?" he said "some methods are much more crueler" said Sarah "now we have some paperwork to do and then we'll get you your new room said Sarah.

"Sarah how long am I going to be here?" he asked. "I don't know but I was here a year before they let me out" said Sarah. "You were once?' said Tyler. "Yes, but I'm what would be considered a senior here which means I get to recruit" said Sarah. "Now I just have a few questions and were all done here," said Sarah

He answered her questions and was led from the room to a cafeteria like place. That was when he realized that they weren't the only ones here. Sarah went back to the boy's cell and pulled Reid out next.

Reid was a lot more destructive in his anger and it took her a few minutes to snap the bones back into place after a well-placed blow broke her neck. After calmly talking afterward and another question and answer session she sent him to where they took Tyler.

Before she went back and took Pogue out of the room next, she planned on leaving Caleb for last. Because that was one that would hurt the most emotionally.

Pogue took an awful lot for her to goad him into attacking her. It wasn't until she told him he would never be able to see Kate again did she get some sort of response. Which turned out to be more explosive than Reid's had been.

After he was done she actually needed the doctor to pick wood pieces out of her hide. Pogue wasn't calmer until he realized that she was all right and that he hadn't killed her. He even apologized to her for hurting her. She told him she understood. After all she had once been in his shoes. After he answered her questions she had him led to where Tyler and Reid were.

Then she took a deep breath and got herself some water and new furniture for the fourth time today. Then she took a steadying breath and opened the cell door. Caleb came out on his own but said nothing to her beyond asking where the others were. She answered with a clipped "safe" the guards led him to the room and Sarah walked in. the guards closed the door behind him.


	4. Chapter 4

Illusion 4

Caleb stared at her without speaking. The room he was in was empty except fro a desk and two chairs. The desk had a glass of water on it. "Where are my friends?" asked Caleb at last. "They are completing intake and joining the other students," said Sarah. "Is that what were here for?" said Caleb. He sounded mad already. Least she wouldn't have to push his buttons to get him mad.

"Yes you're here to learn," said Sarah. "I've learned enough, I want to leave" he said "you can't, none of you can" said Sarah "what about my mom, whose going to take care of her?" said Caleb. "I'm sorry Caleb it won't be you," said Sarah. "What do you mean?" he said. He took a step forward. He looked very menacing and for a second Sarah was actually scared of him. "She probably already got the news," said Sarah.

"What news" said Caleb. "Of your deaths, they do it with every intake" said Sarah. "Your going to tell my mother I'm dead, that will devastate her, you can't," he yelled. 'I'm sorry Caleb, everyone's relatives will be getting the same news" said Sarah

"How can you do this?" he said "I thought you cared about me?" he said softly. He was hurt, she could tell by his tone. "I do, I always have," she whispered. "Then help us get out of here," he yelled. "No, I can't" she said "can't or won't?" said Caleb she sighed "both" she answered.

"Was it all a lie?" he asked. "Just the names not the feelings" she said. "Liar" he said. She put her head down. This was going to be more difficult than she thought. "I only lied about who I was Caleb never about what I feel for you" she said. "I don't believe you," he said. She sighed, "Fine then lets get this over with, take a seat." She said.

He leaned against the door just like Reid had done.

"No" he said, "fine have it your way" she said. She pulled the collar controls out of her pocket. He watched her. "You won't do it," he said as if he knew what she was going to do. "Are you sure about that?" she answered he leaned back on the door with a self righteous smirk "I know you, your not like that' he said. She hated that attitude of his. She found herself getting angry. She pushed the button without meaning to.

He screamed in shock as the electricity flowed through his system. She did it; I can't believe she did it he thought. Then she turned it off. "Did you enjoy that?" he hissed through clenched teeth. "No not really and if its any consolation I didn't enjoy it when I did it to your friends either" said Sarah.

He looked up at her. She could see the anger in his eyes now. "If I could use you'd be dead right now, bitch" said Caleb."Oh really, lets see" said Sarah and hit the auto release on the controls. The latch on the collar snapped open and fell from Caleb's neck.

He looked at her in shock "I think its time we had an argument in this relationship don't you?" said Sarah. "That was stupid Sarah," said Caleb. He stood up slowly. "Really, maybe, or maybe not" she answered "I want to hurt you Sarah" said Caleb. "Then do it, here's your chance" said Sarah.

"I could kill you Sarah, very easily" said Caleb. "Come now Caleb I thought you hated me," said Sarah. "I do or at least part of me does," said Caleb. "So get it out of your system" said Sarah. He shook his head "are you crazy Sarah, do you have any idea what I'm capable of?" he said, "no, do you?" said Sarah

He stopped and glared at her "but I do know what your friends are capable of and they already vented, it's your turn" said Sarah. "I'm ascended Sarah I'm ten times their strength" said Caleb. "And I betrayed you doesn't make you even a little bit mad" she said. She moved closer to him.

She was inches from him and reached out to stroke his chest. He glared down at her. "And I tortured your friends" she said her hand was trailing up his chest. She could see the anger in his eyes and it was barely held in check. "Did you know Tyler screams like a child?" said Sarah.

Caleb growled and before he knew it he was using. He flung Sarah across the room, like he had often done to Reid. But instead of a fence catching her the far wall did. He followed it with an energy blast without thinking. Sarah had just started to slide down the wall when the energy hit her.

It felt like fire and she wanted to scream. That probably would've made him stop and he needed to vent too much to do that. So she held it back on purpose. Instead she staggered to her feet. And waited for more. "Was that the best you can do, even Tyler caused more damage than that" said Sarah.

Part of her knew she shouldn't be goading him but it was necessary. He still looked pissed when the desk blind-sided her. It knocked her into the other wall and was followed by the chairs and her water glass. She shook off the glass shards and tried to get out of the rubble. The desk had her pined. "Is that better Sarah?" he answered mocking her tone. She slide down and out from under the debris. Her arm was definitely broken. "Getting there, I'll tell you when, like I always do" she responded

The debris hit her again in response. One of the glass shards imbedded itself in the back of her neck and she stopped moving. Her world had temporarily gone dark. Caleb was about to throw another energy blast when he realized she wasn't moving. He put the energy away and approached her cautiously.

She still didn't move she was on her side so he rolled her over. Her eyes gazed up at him they were going milky "oh god no, Sarah, no" He pulled her into his arms and screamed "Help!" Tears were flowing from his eyes. "Please no, I'm sorry I forgive you please just live" he whispered. Why had she forced him to do that?

The door opened and three guards walked in they held rifles. Caleb stepped back from her and stood by the door and when they motioned for him to go to the side. "I didn't mean to kill her I swear," said Caleb. a doctor walked past him a kneeled by Sarah. He flipped her over and examined the back of her skull. Then pulled out a pair of pliers and pulled what was left of Sarah's water glass out of her skull.

He set the piece on the floor next to him. Then he watched as Sarah's eyes went back to blue and she sat up coughing. The doctor walked over to Caleb. "Don't worry lad I'm sure she won't take it personally," said the doctor and he waved for the guards to leave the room. Then the doctor followed the guards out. As soon as the doctor had exited the room Caleb was kneeling by her side."Oh god Sarah I'm so sorry I thought I killed you, please forgive me," he whispered. He pulled her into his arms and was hugging her tightly to his chest.

"Ah Caleb I can't breath and you did kill me" she whispered he closed his eyes and tightened his grip on her. "Caleb still can't breathe, can you chill on the hug," she asked. He relaxed a little and she sucked in oxygen. He was still holding her in his arms. She buried her head in his chest. "Oh god please don't ever scare me like that again," he whispered.

'So I take it the argument is over?" she asked. "Oh god yes and don't ever do that to me again" he said he held her out a little. "I thought I lost you," he said softly. He looked so stricken by the thought. "And it would have been my fault" he whispered he kissed her forehead. "I almost killed you," he said sadly. "Ah Caleb you did kill me, but don't worry I'm not mad about it" she said


	5. Chapter 5

Illusion 5

Caleb held her out a little to look at her. He wasn't sure if he had heard her right. "Sarah that's not funny" said Caleb "your right its not, but its true" said Sarah "babe that's impossible" said Caleb "so is putting a broken windshield back together" said Sarah

"Yes but I have the power you don't" he argued "Caleb you saw how bad I was hurt, where are my injuries" said Sarah.

Caleb pushed up her sleeve carefully and then the other. There was nothing not even a scratch. He started to lift her shirt and she stopped him "hello cameras" said Sarah "sorry" he apologized sheepishly when he realized he had been about to strip her right there. "How is this possible?" he said, "I heal real fast that's one of my talents," said Sarah

"One of?" said Caleb she climbed out of his lap and stood up. "What's the rest?" he asked. "It's easier to just show you," said Sarah. She then literally vanished right before his eyes "Sarah?" he said in shock "I'm still here, Caleb" said Sarah "ok why can't I see you?" said Caleb Sarah reappeared "cause I can change the way light bounces off of me" said Sarah

"Wait you could do this the whole time?" said Caleb "yes, unfortunately it wasn't enough to keep me from ending up the damsel in distress" said Sarah. She ended the statement with a snort.

"Did you ever use that talent at school?" said Caleb Sarah grinned at him wickedly "maybe" she teased "oh god, when?" he said she chuckled in response. "Lets just say I know what's inside your gym locker and leave it at that" she said wickedly. "Sarah!" said Caleb.

"Oh come now its not like I touched I only looked, its not like you wouldn't if you could," said Sarah. "How do you know I can't" said Caleb "you don't have to your welcome in my shower any time" said Sarah. "Now enough pleasant talk, we need to get this paperwork done so we can join the others," said Sarah. "Wait you were in the shower area?" said Caleb "yep, when all four of you were using it, nice view there I might add," said Sarah Caleb blushed bright red.

"You were clothed right?" said Caleb Sarah grabbed a chair and righted it. The leg fell off of it. Sarah frowned at it and sat on the floor. Caleb sat across from her. "I'm not answering that," said Sarah. Sarah picked up the paperwork from the floor and attempted to straiten it. "Now lets start at the top, where were you born?" said Sarah. Caleb crossed his arms across his chest and refused to answer. "All right I was in a swim suit, happy now?" said Sarah. "Marblehead hospital" he answered. He continued answering her seemingly pointless questions until she said they were done.

Then she shakily stood up "oh legs asleep," said Sarah. "I hate those won't it go away faster" said Caleb "yes but still has the pins and needles sensation" said Sarah she was hobbling towards the door. Then walking normally she tapped on the door and it opened. "Come on lets go see how your friends are doing shall we?" said Sarah.

Caleb followed her into a brightly lit metal hallway.

There were military people and scientists walking everywhere. She led him down a hall and made a right turn at the first four-way branch.

She walked down to the fourth door and entered a code into the panel next to the door. The door slid open and she walked in. Caleb followed more slowly. Until he spotted the guys that was. The room was a two-story affair with a catwalk above what looked like a classroom. Caleb went down the stairs and strait towards his friends. Sarah followed him after she talked to a guy in a white jacket and handed him the folder with Caleb's paperwork.

She went down the stairs. She reached the bottom and was knocked down to the stairs by an eight year old hugging her legs. "Sarah your back!" squealed the child "hey look everyone Sarah's back!" yelled the child. "Well all right!" said a boy who looked about twelve. "Ok Cindy can you let me go now?" said Sarah the child reluctantly released her legs and she climbed back up from the stairs.

She scooped up the child and hugged her. "I missed you," said the child "I missed you too sweetheart" said Sarah gently

She carried Cindy over to the desks and set her down on a chair. "Hasn't Spence been reading to you?' asked Sarah "yeah but its not the same as when you read the stories, your more like mom was" said Cindy softly "ah sweetie that's sweet, I'm sure Spence did his best" said Sarah. The twelve year old snorted.

A Goth girl walked over and gave Sarah a hug "girl we missed you, were worried you weren't coming back," said the girl. "I almost didn't Selene, had to get my ass saved" said Sarah "you, you had to be saved from who?' said Selene "from Chase, the recruit I went after he turned out to be unstable" said Sarah "girlfriend I don't know why you just can't call him crazy if the shoe fits" said a dark skinned girl wearing braids and sipping a latte in class.

"Yeah he was crazy, happy now Monica?" said Sarah "yeah I'm happy girl, happy you aren't toast sister welcome back" said Monica "where's Violet?" said Sarah. "Oh she lit the lab on fire again, professor hall is making her clean it this time" said Selene. "She should be here any minute now, she was almost done" said Monica

As if on cue a dimititive girl in jeans a ratty tee ran down the stairs. Her dishwater blond hair was flowing behind her as she ran down the stairs. She got halfway across the room before she tripped and fell.

Tyler caught her before she hit the ground 'oh so sorry, I'm such a klutz" said the girl "its ok are you all right?" said Tyler the girl got a good look at his face and blushed profusely. She lost the ability to speak and quickly climbed out of his lap. She took a seat next to where Monica was. "Sarah your back?" said the girl. Sarah reached over and hugged Violet. "So I take it was a success?" said Violet "well sort of Chase was" said Sarah "crazy" coughed Monica "crazy but I brought them instead" said Sarah. She pointed to the gathered four boys in the front of the room. None of which looked too happy about being here.

Violet was staring at Tyler "his names Tyler" said Sarah into her ear. Vi jumped and squeaked Tyler turned to stare at her and she slid down in her desk. Violet was as shy as Tyler was. This was going to take some work, thought Sarah. Selene rolled her eyes and zapped Violet in the butt with a small bolt of electricity. She yelped and sat up quickly. Tyler waved at her and she turned even redder.

Monica giggled at her, "Selene that was mean" said Sarah "oh come on I'm only trying to help" said Selene. Sarah sighed "would you guys like to meet them?' asked Sarah "already did honey the blond one hit on both of us when we walked in the door" said Monica. Sarah chuckled "yeah that's Reid for you" said Sarah.

"Why does big and delicious look so sad?" said Selene. Sarah looked at her blankly "the one with the long hair?" said Selene "oh he had a girlfriend before he got here" said Sarah. She actually felt bad for Kate not only was she losing a boyfriend but Sarah would have been reported dead in that accident too.

"I take it she was a friend?" said Monica "yeah and a good one too, sometimes I hate my job you know" said Sarah. She sat down at a table. "He'll get over it and your friend will move on," said Selene. "Our families did," said Monica "don't remind me of that, their parents are probably going through that exact same thing right now" said Sarah. "Hey boo, it's the way things are, we all dealt with it," said Monica

"Yeah we all did, but if it makes you feel any better we'll help them if you like?" said Selene "yeah we can always tell the professor that its peer counseling" said violet. "Yeah thanks guys I'm sure it will help," said Sarah. "So girlfriend which one is yours and are they as hot as I think they are?" said Monica "the one I walked in with and his name is Caleb and yes their all hot, way hot" said Sarah softly. She was trying to keep her voice down so the boys wouldn't hear. Cindy popped her head up between the older girls "so I take it you looked for us?" said Selene

"Oh yeah no protection on their showers out there" said Sarah "eww you saw them naked!" squealed Cindy the boys heard her and looked up. Sarah hid behind her friends. Selene didn't seem to care if they knew they were being discussed "so are they hung?" asked Selene. Sarah blushed and smiled wickedly and nodded yes "oh yeah, way better than I thought, like horses" said Sarah.

"Eewww Sarah your gross, you looked at their wee wee's" said Cindy she said it very loud and Monica tried to cover her mouth. The girl ducked and ran away from the teen. "Cindy come back here," said Monica

Cindy ignored her and ran towards the boys.


	6. Chapter 6

Illusion 6

Cindy popped up next to Tyler and said "hi I'm Cindy what's your name?" Tyler smiled at the child "Hi Cindy I'm Tyler" he answered. "So what can you do?" said Cindy. "Excuse me?" said Tyler. He sounded confused by the question. "Your excused, so what are they?" said the child. She tilted her head and gazed up at him. Reid spotted the kid talking to Tyler and sat down near her. "So what are they talking about over there?" said Reid. "And you are?" said Cindy "Reid, Reid Garwin" he said with a smile.

Cindy waved her hand dismissively "just gross stuff," said the kid. Pogue had wandered closer to the small child. His misery was temporarily forgotten in favor of curiosity. Caleb who had been talking to Pogue walked over with him. "Like what kind of gross stuff?" said Pogue. Cindy looked at him like he had done something wrong

"I'm Pogue, this is Caleb" said Pogue "Cindy" said the girl "so what are they talking about?" said Caleb. He smiled at her. "You guys and your privates" said Cindy. She made an ew yuck face."Ah huh" said Pogue he looked at Caleb "why does your girlfriend know what we look like naked?" said Pogue.

"Ah, yeah I was hoping to not have to explain this" said Caleb "well too bad, explain" said Reid "Sarah has a talent we didn't know about" said Caleb "what as a peeping tom?" said Tyler "she can go idivisable" said Cindy "she can what?" said Reid "indidvisdibl you know, vanish" said Cindy

"Wait your girlfriend is the invisible freaking woman?" said Reid. "Ah yeah" said Caleb. "Oh my god" said Tyler. The guys were looking over towards Sarah. Sarah sank down behind her friends. "Great she can heal and spy on us" said Pogue

"Hey I didn't know until she told me," said Caleb

"Great are there any more surprises?" asked Tyler someone in a lab coat chose that moment to enter the classroom area. "Everyone will you please be seated" said the professor.

The boys looked over at Sarah one last time before taking a seat. "Gentlemen welcome to the class, Sarah welcome back," said the man he was short and bald with a pair of wire-rimmed glasses. "I am professor Xavier, and yes I've heard the jokes already" said the man. Reid was grinning mischievously and had been about to comment

. "Gentlemen welcome to the x project, all will be explained shortly," said the man. Once again cutting off a pending question before it could be asked.

The girls in the class had all taken seats and were being unusually quiet. Even Sarah was silent. "Now I'm sure the newest members in our group have some concerns, I assure you they will be addressed," said the professor. "Let me start by explaining why you are here, why we all are here to be more precise," said the professor

The boys just sat there listening to the professor's speech. "About five years ago, a certain genetic factor was discovered, and after further testing determined to cause certain, er talents," said the professor.

Reid started to say something "yes I know this sounds like the beginning to a movie or comic book plot, but I assure you there is much truth in some artists renditions" said the professor Caleb had raised his hand in an attempt to say something "yes go ahead young man" said the man. "That still doesn't explain why we were all kidnapped," said Caleb. "You all weren't kidnapped young man, some of you have nowhere else to go" said the professor. Sarah looked down at her lap and the child stifled a sob.

"What about those who do?' said Caleb. He looked over at Sarah in concern, he longed to get them all out of here and he knew she was one that the professor had meant. The man sighed "young man I'll have you know that we didn't make the decision to bring your four in lightly, in fact you weren't even planned" said the professor

"So why did you then?" said Pogue he sounded angry and Sarah couldn't blame him. She had warned the staff that they might not want to be involved. Even went so far as to mention the ageing factor as a handicap to using them. She had not wanted to bring them into this at all.the man sighed and looked at Sarah. "Mostly because your recruiter was unsuccessful capturing her intended prey," said the professor. Sarah frowned at him that wasn't the reason and she knew it. "Who was her intended prey?" said Tyler "ah that would have been a boy by the name of Chase Collins," said the professor

Sarah glared at him in anger she knew that wasn't why they chose to bring in the boys. Sarah had done everything in her power to persuade them otherwise.

"Well he tried to kill her," said Caleb. "That is beside the point she had a job to do and didn't do it, she allowed herself to get distracted," said the professor. He looked right at Caleb when he said it. "If you have something to say, spit it out" said Caleb.

He found himself getting angry he still cared about Sarah and he didn't like him bad mouthing her.

"Very well do you know why we brought you here?" said the professor. Caleb nodded yes "it was because we had ms Wenham bugged the whole time she was gone, we heard everything you ever said or did" said the professor. He glared at Caleb when he said it like he had done something wrong. "Then you know how I feel about her?' said Caleb.

"Yes well she wasn't supposed to get close to you she was supposed to get close to Chase" said the man "Chase was crazy" said Sarah. "All right girlfriend, about damn time" said Monica. "And that would be your professional opinion, after what degree?" said the man.

The boys were beginning to dislike this man already. "It was a field assessment that was agreed on by your colleagues, you know the ones with the degrees higher than yours," said Sarah.

"I see," said the man. He was about to say more when another man walked in. he was wearing a Hawaiian shirt under his lab coat and some Bermuda shorts and sandals. "That will be all Xavier, I'll take it from here" said the newcomer. Xavier looked pissed but yielded the floor and headed for the stairs. He handed the newcomer the stack of files he held as he left.

Sarah sighed in relief; this was one person she actually respected in this place. "Now where was he, oh yeah pissing everyone off" said the new guy. A door slammed in the corridor above the classroom. The newcomer chuckled "I'm professor Rafferty, and it appears I'll be handling your educational experience here" said Rafferty. The man looked nothing like a professor. He more closely resembled a surfer. He even had longer hair than Pogue. "Oh thank god," said Monica. "So Sarah dear how far did he get before he started attacking you dear?" said Rafferty.

"He mentioned that there was a genetic factor and that's all," said Sarah the man pressed his lips and frowned. "I see, so essentially I have a clean slate, good I hate reteaching someone else's screw ups" said Rafferty "thanks Raff" said Sarah. "Any time hun any time" said Rafferty "now where were we, oh yes the genetic code" said Rafferty "well let me see without going into a bunch of scientific details that would just lose you" said Rafferty." In layman's terms, you each have a pattern in your genes that makes the impossible possible, for lack of a better term a mutant x like factor" said Rafferty

"Thus, you can do pretty much anything, Sarah here can walk off a 747 crash, and Cindy, sweet little Cindy, here can crush a cue ball in her hand" said Rafferty "a plane crash?' said Caleb. They were looking at her funny now and Sarah willed herself invisible. The other boys widened their eyes in shock when she faded from view. "Easy my dear do come back, I'm sorry I mentioned it, I know it's a sore subject" said Rafferty. Sarah faded back into view she had tears in her eyes.

"All right everyone take five," said Rafferty. He walked over to Sarah and pulled her into a hug "its ok sunshine, I know it hurts and I'm sorry " said Rafferty Sarah sniffled "I know I'm not mad" she said softly. "Do you need a minute?" he asked "yeah if you don't mind?" she asked. He nodded towards the office at the top of the catwalk stairs. Sarah climbed them and went into the office and closed the door. She was trying to quell a rising panic attack.

She had come close to having one on the plane back. The only thing she didn't want to do, not in front of Xavier of all people. She sat down on the floor and tried to control the shaking. She hadn't noticed it as much when she had been at Spencer's or in the company of Caleb.


	7. Chapter 7

Illusion 7

Author's note: yes I got this idea after watching Zoom, and x-men. I know it shows sorry can't help it. Technically Raferty is Tim Allen's character and a professor X type character.

Caleb watched Sarah go up the stairs in concern. It shocked him that she would go to Rafferty for support instead of him. It also kind of hurt him. He cared about Sarah if there was something she was upset about he should be comforting her not some strange guy. He glanced at the stairs she had vanished up and Raferty saw his gaze.

"Go ahead, go check on her" said Raferty after about the third time he did it. "Are you sure?' asked Caleb. "Go, the others can fill you in", said Raferty he made a shooing motion with his hand. Caleb took the offer for what it was and climbed the stairs.

He reached the top and opened the door to Raferty's office cautiously. He couldn't see Sarah anywhere. "Sarah?' he said softly calling her name. "Caleb?' came the answering sniffle. It came from behind the desk but no one was there. "Sarah where are you?' he asked. She faded back into view. "Sorry sometimes I do it when I'm upset" said Sarah. She was sitting on the floor next to the desk.

Caleb sat down next to her. "Are you all right?" he asked. "Yeah, I'll be fine just old memories I'd rather not deal with yet" said Sarah "do you want to talk about it?' he said. She smiled, he really was a sweetheart.

"I, ah not really" said Sarah

"That's ok, I just wanted you to know I'm here for you if you do" said Caleb. "Thank you, I appreciate that," said Sarah. "Will you tell me what's really going on here?" said Caleb."Yeah sure" said Sarah. " They brought us, all of us here to be heroes," said Sarah giving him an ironic look when she said it. He laughed, "you've got to be kidding?' said Caleb "no, I'm not, I know it sounds comic book but it's the truth" said Sarah

"Yeah but what about the ageing thing we can't use all that much or we'll be checking into a retired heroes home" said Caleb "Raferty a genetics one of the best in the world believe it or not and he's working on that" said Sarah

Caleb leaned his head on the wall in frustration. "I'm sorry I know they weren't supposed to know that's why I kept trying to avoid talking about it," said Sarah "I thought you were just upset about Chase" said Caleb. "I was but I was also trying to keep you out of this" said Sarah. "And if you had?" said Caleb. "Then when they called be back you wouldn't have seen me again," said Sarah.

"I wouldn't want that," said Caleb "thanks that sweet," said Sarah. "So how did you end up here?' he asked. Sarah bit her lip and looked down, then sighed before answering. "I was in a plane crash and I survived" said Sarah "a plane crash, why would that make you special?" said Caleb "cause it was a 747 and there were no other survivors except me" said Sarah. "Whoa! That's harsh" said Caleb "I walked away without a scratch Caleb, or at least not a physical one," said Sarah.

Caleb looked at his lap "the nightmares?" he said "yeah, I can still hear them screaming sometimes" said Sarah. Caleb put his arms around her and held her close. "Is that why you do this?" said Caleb. "Yeah I know it sounds silly but the idea is sound" said Sarah "even if there methods aren't," said Caleb. "I know sometimes it sucks but would you have said yes if someone like say Raferty came up and asked you to be a super hero?' said Sarah. "No not really and I doubt the boys will either" said Caleb "I know and I'm sorry about that but right now we don't have a choice" said Sarah

"And if we did what would you do?' said Caleb "I don't know I never really thought about it until I went to Spencer's" said Sarah "and met me?" he said with a smile she blushed crimson and started to fade from view. He grabbed her arm to stop her; the part of her arm that was fading also made his hand fade too. "Sarah?" said Caleb he sounded alarmed. Sarah came back quickly "what?" she said, "I was vanishing too" said Caleb. "Oh sorry" said Sarah. "Sarah how did you control that at Spencer's?" said Caleb.

"I had an electronic device that blocked my powers, that's one of the reasons Chase caught me so easy, god that's embarrassing" said Sarah Caleb chuckled. She smacked his arm playfully."Hey!, seriously though don't feel bad we all got taken in" said Caleb "and you almost got killed because of me" said Sarah.

He held her out and looked her in the eyes. "That's not your fault, it was his" said Caleb. "Yes but at least he did do something good" said Sarah. Caleb frowned now confused by her statement. "What was that?' he asked.

"Well if I hadn't gone there for him I would have never met you," said Sarah. He smiled at the statement that made him feel special. "Well in that case I should have thanked him before I killed him" said Caleb."Ha ha very funny, but you didn't know remember" said Sarah.

"No I didn't but if I had I would have taken you as far away from this as I could" said Caleb. "That's sweet but they would find us," said Sarah. "I know but it would take them a while," said Caleb "doubt it they put tracking devices in us" said Sarah. Where?" said Caleb he was frowning at her.

She pushed back his sleeve and pointed to a new scar on his upper arm. "They usually put it in an existing scar but you probably didn't have one" said Sarah. He traced over the pink spot on his arm. "How did you know?" he asked. Sarah pulled up her own sleeve she no longer had a scar there, matter of fact she didn't scar at all.

"I take it you don't scar either?" said Caleb "no, not really, and a rarely get sick too" said Sarah. "Lucky bitch, I had the flu last year and blew up furniture whenever I sneezed" said Caleb. Sarah started laughing at him. "Its not funny I got in so much trouble, I thought I'd be grounded forever" said Caleb "you in trouble?" scoffed Sarah "yeah why is that so hard to believe?" he said teasingly

"Because your like totally a good guy like boy scout good" said Sarah "I am not and I got in plenty of trouble as a kid" said Caleb."Yeah but I bet you were a boy scout" said Sarah. He frowned at her, she was grinning at him and he couldn't hold on to the mock anger at all. "All right you got me, but the others were boy scouts too" said Caleb in self-defense.

"Your kidding, I'd believe Tyler maybe but not Reid or Pogue," said Sarah. "Oh really?" said Caleb "I'll have to tell them you said that" he teased. "Don't you dare" she said smacking his arm "and you want to know something even funnier?" said Caleb "what?" said Sarah with a giggle. "Pogue's mom was the den mother," said Caleb. Sarah started rolling with laughter. "Oh man I'd love to see photos of that, I bet you guys were cute in those uniforms," she teased.

He laughed "hey I made the Spencer uniform look good" said Caleb "yeah and that's saying a lot, considering a supermodel would be hard pressed to look good in those" said Sarah "oh I don't know my girlfriend made it look good with those gorgeous legs of hers" said Caleb. "Oh stop I did not, oh wait you better be talking about me right?' said Sarah. He couldn't tell if she was still teasing or not cause she said it serious. "I am, don't worry," he said. "I know, I'm just teasing," said Sarah.

He shoved her and she started to laugh again. "So are you going to show me the bad boy side of you any time soon" said Sarah. She was teasing him again he was certain this time. Or he thought she was until she leaned closer and climbed onto his lap. "Ah huh, maybe I will right now" he said and kissed her. "Not on my floor you won't" said Raferty's voice. Sarah quickly climbed off of Caleb's lap

"Sarah dear if you must shag your boyfriend do so in your apartment" said Raferty. Sarah was turning bright red. "Now if you two are through I need you downstairs," said Raferty. He was smiling at Sarah seemingly oblivious to her embarrassment. He went back through the door with a grin on his face. Caleb chuckled at her open mouthed look


	8. Chapter 8

Illusion 8

As soon as Raferty was out of the door. Sarah smacked Caleb "stop it" she said he kept laughing at her. "All right enough its not that funny" said Sarah "yes it is" said Caleb. "We should go downstairs he usually doesn't ask for everyone to be there unless it's important," said Sarah. "Fine come on we might as well hear him out" said Caleb.

He still thought the whole idea was ridiculous but given what Sarah had just told him he could think of no way to get them out of this mess. He followed Sarah as she made her way to the door and down the stairs. They were halfway down the stairs when they heard Reid yelling. "Like hell we are!" said Reid.

Sarah sighed she had anticipated this sort of thing. "Reid!" yelled Caleb "what?" he yelled back "just chill and hear him out" said Caleb "hear them out do you even know why were here?" said Reid. "Sarah" said Pogue under his breath Caleb glared at him and he looked away guiltily. "Yes I do and just give them a chance," said Caleb.

Sarah went over to her girlfriends. They were grinning at her. "So what happened?' asked Monica Sarah shrugged and sat down "we talked" said Sarah "talked that's all?" said Selene."Yeah right girlfriend" said Monica. "So what's Reid so upset about?" said sarah."Oh Raferty told them why there here, he didn't take it so well" said violet. "Yeah he's really flipping," said Spence."Yeah might want to get him to calm down or they might just throw him in solitary until he does" said Selene.

Selene should know all about that she had been in solitary more times than they could count."Right I better talk to him" said Sarah. Caleb was already over there trying to talk some sense into Reid. Reid was ignoring him and getting more agitated by the minute.

Sarah approached the group of boys. She glanced uneasily at the door expecting guards to show up any minute. "Reid please calm down" said Sarah "calm down, calm down that's rich coming from the girl who helped kidnap us" said Reid. He stepped towards Sarah and got in her face. "Reid don't" said Caleb.

He took a step towards Sarah. Sarah held up her hand telling him to back off. If Reid was going to do something she didn't want him hurting Caleb instead. "Fine what's really bothering you, because we already dealt with that or I thought we did" said Sarah "oh baby doll we ain't even warmed up yet" said Reid "Reid stop" said Pogue. "No its ok Pogue let him talk" said Sarah.

Cindy popped up beside Tyler. Tyler instinctively grabbed her to keep her out of the way "guards are here," said Cindy.

"Reid please just calm down and go back to your seat," said Sarah "no" he said back Sarah glanced at the approaching guards nervously. One of the guards was reaching for his gun. Sarah knew they only had stun darts in their guns but they still hurt like hell. Reid didn't deserve to be hurt. He was just upset about the whole situation. They all should be, though some were handling it better than others.

"Sirs please step aside," said one of the guards. Pogue saw the gun in his hand and mistakenly thought they intended to shoot Reid for real. Pogue lashed out with his powers and pushed the guard back wards. The other guard saw his eyes go black and shot him.

Cindy screamed and ran from the group. Tyler having been freed from Cindy ran towards the falling Pogue. The other guard raised his gun to shoot Reid. And Reid's eyes started to go black. It seemed to be moving in slow motion. Sarah grabbed Reid's arm and went invisible just as the man fired. The dart passed through empty air. "Code Sarah, repeat code Sarah," he yelled into the radio attached to his neck.

Reid froze he felt weird and the guard was looking for them but they were right in front of him. The guard stretched out his hand and felt the empty air in front of him they stepped sideways. Sarah keeping a grip on his arm. She put her finger to her mouth in a shushing motion. Reid was glancing at her with a mischievous grin on his face. Sarah nodded towards the closed door.

Reid understood and used to make the door open. The guard headed for the open door. While two other guards retrieved pogue's unconscious form. Sarah knew he would be spending the night in solitary. After the guards vanished Sarah brought them back into view. "What are they going to do with Pogue?" asked Reid

"Take him to solitary where they were going to take you" said Sarah. Reid looked guilty for a second. "Don't worry I'll let him know that the guards only carry stun guns" said Raferty."Don't bother they can tell him themselves since they will be in adjoining cells" said another guard "nice try Sarah" said the guard. Sarah groaned, great just great. "Fine lead on" said Sarah. "This way please" said the guard.

The other one with him pushed Reid after her. Reid turned like he intended to hit him. The guard raised his stun gun and Reid backed off. They led them down another set of hallways to the detention rooms. The guard punched in a code and the door slid open. He pushed Reid inside without preamble. And the door closed Reid angrily punched the door. The guard punched in another code and Sarah walked into her cell. The door slid shut behind her.

"Pogue" said Reid. He was looking through the glasslike panel at the occupant of another cell. "He'll be out for another two hours," said Sarah. "How do you know he's just tranquided??" said Reid "because we're much too valuable to kill and I've been tranquided before, several times actually" said Sarah Reid snorted he was still angry at her." You know if you fight them they'll only make it worse" said Sarah "thanks for the advice traitor" said Reid.

He flopped down on the bed in the cell. He tried to use to throw the pillow on the bed to the other side of the room. It didn't budge, so he tried again. Then got frustrated and screamed. Physically throwing the offending pillow this time.

Sarah sighed would he ever get over that, she hoped so; she actually liked Reid and didn't want to see him hurt

They would hurt him if he didn't eventually cooperate. They'd push him until he broke. Sarah didn't want to see that happen. Not only because it would hurt the others but because Reid was a friend even if he was mad at her. "You know I really didn't have a choice about bringing you guys in," said Sarah

He snorted, "yes you did, you could have said no," said Reid "they don't listen to no around here" said Sarah sadly. "Still could have refused," said Reid. "It wouldn't have done any good, they would have just picked you up themselves" said Sarah.

"So how did they pick you up?" he asked

Sarah sighed might as well tell him, Caleb knew already. "I was on a 747 when it crashed, I walked away without a scratch" said Sarah "whoa! so they brought you here?" said Reid "yeah after they declared there were no survivors" said Sarah. "That's fucked," said Reid "yeah it is but they've done it to all of us, even you guys," said Sarah. Reid was standing by the cell door listening to her.

"So this is it we're royally screwed," said Reid. "Yes we are" said Sarah "so how did they know about us, did you tell them?" said Reid "no, they actually were tracking Chase and were going to figure you out anyways, then Caleb told me when I was wearing a wire" said Sarah "great, that's ironic, he yells at me for potentially exposing us and he's the one who does" said Reid he ended with a short mirthless laugh. "I tried to warn him really I did, I even tried to avoid him, unfortunately Chase had other plans" said Sarah Reid snorted "so you were actually supposed to bring chase here?" said Reid "yes but chase was well crazy for lack of a better word" said Sarah "oh I don't know I can think of several words to describe him" said Reid


	9. Chapter 9

Illusion 9

"Let me guess most of those are probably swear words" said Sarah "right you are babe," said Reid. "Don't blame you I can think of a few choice ones for him myself" said Sarah. "Yeah I'll bet you can," said Reid. "Not to mention some for Kate as well" said Sarah "Kate, why Kate, I thought you two were friends?" said Reid

"Yeah we are or were, I just think she was being stupid for flirting with Chase in the first place." Said Sarah "she flirted with Chase?" said Reid "yeah she even went to the movies with him" said Sarah "I thought you were with her?" said Reid "nope was running errands with Caleb"

"So I was right," said a groggy voice from another cell." welcome back Pogue" said Sarah "thanks I think" he said. "How's the head" said Reid "hurts like a son of a bitch" said Pogue "yeah that stuff will do that, by the way the guards here only carry stun guns" said Sarah

"Could have told me that sooner," said Pogue "where are we?" said Pogue. He wandered over to the glasslike front of the cell. He could clearly see Sarah in one and Reid in another of the cells.

"So you were talking about Kate?" said Pogue. "Yeah I was" said Sarah Sarah didn't want to hurt Pogue but he did deserve the truth "I'm sorry but you were right she was flirting with Chase big time" said Sarah "flirting or something else?" said Pogue he was clenching his jaw angrily.

"Look Pogue I don't want to hurt your feelings but she was starting to look elsewhere, that's why she wasn't returning your calls," said Sarah. Pogue sighed he wasn't sure if he should believe Sarah.

"Yeah and she could have done god knows what at the theater with him, alone" said Reid. "Gee thanks for the mental image," said Pogue. "Yeah eew" said Sarah. "Did she say why she was looking?" said Pogue.

"Yeah it was the whole jealousy thing I'm sorry really I am," said Sarah. "I wish I could just call her one last time, even just to hear her voice," said Pogue. "I'm truly sorry Pogue, the last thing I wanted to do was hurt you all, but I did, and I'm really sorry" said Sarah.

"We understand Rafferty explained some of it and we knew you didn't deliberately betray us," said Pogue

"Right Reid?" said Pogue "yeah we knew sorry babe I was just testing you," said Reid. Sarah looked somewhat offended for a few moments. Then she relented; she could understand their reasoning at least.

"So why are you two in here, Reid I expected but not you" said Pogue. Sarah looked somewhat guilty for a second. "I kind of helped him evade capture, at least for a few seconds" said Sarah "yeah and they weren't happy about it," said Reid. Sarah shrugged "well you guys are kind of my responsibility while your training" said Sarah. "Why?" said Pogue. "Because I insisted on doing your intake, its how things work around here" said Sarah

"So your responsible for all of us" said Reid he had a mischievous gleam to his eyes "Reid you better behave or they will keep putting you in here" said Sarah "so how many times have you ended up in here?" said Pogue "oh a few dozen at least, I wasn't very cooperative when I first got here" said Sarah "how long have you been here?" asked Reid.

"For about a year before they sent me to Spencer's" said Sarah "a year, wow, you must have been incredibly bored" said Pogue "nope this place is a working city under here, we even have our own version of Nicky's, except its called Mac's" said Sarah "whoa really?" said Reid

"Yeah and that's not all we have a lake and swimming pool a tanning salon full gym and everything" said Sarah "gee it sounds like we got kidnapped by club med" said Reid. Sarah laughed at him, he was being sarcastic she knew but it was funny. "Ok sorry I know I sound like a brochure," said Sarah

"Yeah you think" said Pogue "hey what about my bike?" said Pogue "oh they have a race track, and yes they have ducati's" said Sarah "holy shit that's so cool, maybe this won't be so bad after all" said Pogue

"Only on minor draw back you have to earn the right to use the recreation equipment," said Sarah. "Like how?" said Reid "by doing good in your training and cooperating, there big on that here" said Sarah "really you think" said Reid sarcastically. She frowned at him she was trying to give them something positive to look forward to.

"So what will happen when they finally let us out of here?" said Pogue. He was choosing to ignore Reid's negative attitude. "Well first they will show you where you'll be staying, which is the intake dorms" said Sarah "and where are you staying?" said Reid "I have an apartment" said Sarah. "You lucky bitch" said Reid "hey I earned it" said Sarah.

"How?" said Pogue. "By having the fastest time in the challenge room" said Sarah. She smugly smiled that was something she was very proud of. So far no one had beaten her time yet.

"So that's all there is to it huh" said Pogue. He was thinking it over in his head. "So what gives with the other girls?" said Reid." well Selene can produce electricity, their still testing how high she can go in voltage though, she's the Goth girl" said Sarah "the one with the piercings?" said Pogue. Sarah smiled so he wasn't deaf to the world, that's always a good sign.

"And then there's violet she's a pyrokinetic" said Sarah "that's the shy one who fell on Tyler?' said Reid "yeah she likes him" said Sarah "and the last one with the braids that's Monica, she can learn anything just by picking it up or a book about it up and she also can use a computer without touching it" said Sarah "cool, what can you do?" said Pogue. "Well you saw the healing already" said Sarah "I can also vanish" said Sarah

"Cool I want to see, do it" said Pogue. "I can't in here these cells have inhibitor fields, that's why Reid couldn't use earlier" said Sarah. Reid looked embarrassed for a second "seriously you tried?" said Pogue "yeah all I got was a headache" said Reid. "Well that bites, so when will they let us out" said Pogue "hopefully in time for dinner" said Sarah "yeah tell me about it I'm starving" said Reid


	10. Chapter 10

Illusion 10

It took several hours for someone to even check on them. By then Sarah's stomach was seriously protesting. Needless to say she was relieved to see Raferty when he showed up. "So, in here again, perhaps we should put your name on the door" said Raferty. "Just say we're getting out of here?" said Sarah "of course I wouldn't let you spend the night in here" said Raferty.

"What about us?" said Reid "are you calm enough to listen?" asked Raferty. "Yeah" said Reid. "And what about you?" said Raferty he was looking at Pogue "hey I just thought they were actually going to shoot Reid" said Pogue "and now that its established that they intended to stun him?" said Raferty

Pogue shrugged "then I guess its cool" said Pogue. Raferty laughed "its cool they wanted to stun your friend?" said Raferty "hey!" said Reid. "Yeah, there's times I want to stun him myself," said Pogue. Raferty started laughing, "that's not right man" said Reid. Sarah was also giggling.

"All right then I guess we can let you out too, but no more attacking the guards, or each other" said Raferty. Noticing the look on Reid's face. "I mean it," said Raferty holding up a finger in a scolding motion. Reid tried to look innocent, Raferty frowned at him. He wasn't very convincing apparently.

"Go ahead let them out," said Raferty to the guard. The guard pushed a button and the doors slid open. "Thanks Raferty" said Sarah. She gratefully stepped out of the cell. Reid and Pogue quickly followed suit. Neither wanted to be in there any longer than necessary.

"Come on lets go get some food, I'm starving" said Raferty Sarah grinned and followed him out of the detention area. Reid and Pogue walked behind them. Pogue seemed lost in his own thoughts. He was still thinking about what Sarah had said about Kate. He wasn't sure if he should believe her or if she was just trying to get him to forget Kate.

He wished his power included the ability to read minds. Reid glanced sideways at the brooding teen next to him. "You know she's right," said Reid "you think she's telling the truth?" said Pogue "I know what I saw" said Reid. Pogue sighed he wished he could talk to Kate about this.

Raferty led them into a cafeteria. It was crowded with people. Several of them stopped talking as they passed them. It was slightly freaky. Several of the scientists watched them without saying a word. Raferty led them to the food line and grabbed a tray for himself.

"Why are they watching us?" said Pogue. "Oh they know your part of the x project, usually the trainees eat at a different time than the staff." Said Rafferty.

"So that doesn't explain why some of them look scared of us," said Reid. "They probably are" said Rafferty. He handed the woman behind the glass his tray and she put a chunk of lasagna on his plate. Then handed it to another who gave him some bread sticks and a salad.

"Most of the staff is wary of us, unless they are directly involved in the project" said Sarah "oh that's sad" said Pogue. He didn't like the idea of someone being afraid of him. Sarah handed her plate to the lady and the woman gave her the same as Raferty and also a side of fettuccine. The boys got the same as Sarah and Reid tried to sweet talk the lunch lady out of more breadsticks.

Sarah rolled her eyes when he succeeded. She grabbed a carton of chocolate milk and headed for an empty table. At least it was semi empty except for Rafferty. The boys sat down beside her. Pogue sat next to Rafferty choosing to put his back to the curious on lookers. "Before I show you to your rooms, I'm going to have to fill you in, then of course Sarah can do the rest" said Rafferty. Then he began to eat. They silently ate their food. The stares were making the boys uneasy and Sarah wasn't too happy about them either. Rafferty seemed the only one unaffected by the stares directed their way.

Sarah ate quicker than normal. She forgot how unnerving the other staff could be. After her stint at Spencer's she was used to people not knowing about her abilities. These people probably had access to her files. She glanced at the others. Meeting Pogue's eyes when she did so. She could see he was unnerved as well.

They were used to no one knowing about them and here everyone did. She couldn't blame him. Reid didn't seem to be very nervous but with Reid who could really tell. He always seemed to have an air of macho confidence around him. She silently wondered if he ever got scared. Sarah finished her food and put her dishes away. Pogue finished soon after her, as did Reid. They put their trays away and waited for Raferty.

He was still eating. It seemed to take him forever and Pogue and Reid were both fidgeting by the time the man went to put his tray away. Sarah followed him to the garbage can and the others were right behind her. They couldn't get out of their fast enough.

"Well they were certainly rude weren't they?" said Rafferty "yeah no kidding, what gives?" said Reid "they're scared" said Sarah "yes well you might have something there my dear" said Rafferty.

He led them down a series of hallways. Turning every once in a while until he reached a quiet little area. The rooms had numbers on their doors. "Ok these are yours, you two get to be roommates," said Raferty "oh joy" said Pogue sarcastically. "Yeah tell me about it, you better not snore man" said Reid. "Well then I guess we'll see you two tomorrow," said Raferty. "Try not to keep them up too late my dear" said Raferty.

He walked away from them leaving Sarah standing in the hallway. "They'll come get you in the morning, and start the testing Rafferty explained" said Sarah Reid made a face and flopped back on the bed. "Caleb and Tyler are in the room next to yours and the girls are in the other rooms" said Sarah "where will you be?" said Reid" he grinned wickedly at her. "Well after I say goodnight to Caleb I'm going to my own place," said Sarah "so when do we get to see your place?" said Pogue.

Sarah grinned at him "Caleb gets to see it first" said Sarah "night boys" said Sarah. The door slid shut as she exited. She went to the room just next door and punched in her code. The boys wouldn't have door codes yet. They had to earn that level of trust. Since they just got here they would be watched for escape attempts.

The door slid open and Sarah walked in. the lights were off. She could make out Tyler sleeping on one bed. He turned and briefly opened his eyes. "Sarah?" he whispered sleepily "shush Tyler go back to sleep, I just came to say goodnight to Caleb." Said Sarah.

She whispered it softly. "Good because I was beginning to get worried," said Caleb softly. He was leaning on one elbow. "Hey baby, how you doing?" said Sarah. "Was trying to sleep but I can't" said Caleb "its all right this place takes some getting used to" said Sarah "how's Pogue and Reid?" said Caleb "their next door you'll see them tomorrow" said Sarah she leaned forward and kissed Caleb on the lips. "I just came to say goodnight," said Sarah softly. Caleb leaned forward and put his hand behind her head. Pulling her down so he could kiss her "good night, I so wish you could spend it here" said Caleb. "Maybe some time you can spend the night in my place" said Sarah.

He chuckled wickedly "hey would you two mind I'm trying to sleep here" said Tyler "oh hush baby boy I'm leaving" said Sarah. "Goodnight Sarah" said Caleb "night Caleb" said Sarah she stood up and walked towards the door as she passed she rumpled the hair on Tyler's head "night baby boy" said Sarah he sighed "night Sarah" said Tyler


	11. Chapter 11

Illusion 11

Someone knocked on their door at six in the morning. When they ignored it the door opened anyways and someone in a guard's uniform woke them up. Needless to say they weren't very happy about it. all four of them were grumbling and complaining about the early wake up time. The scientists led the sleepy teens to a lab. Were they drew blood and did a full physical on them.

Reid was complaining the most about that because he hated doctors. They were given a light snack for breakfast before they were put on treadmills. By the time lunch rolled around they were so sick of the word test that they wanted to blow the place up.

Fortunately for the scientists they were allowed to break for lunch. "Man if I see one more needle I'm going to give that person a free body piercing" said Pogue "no shit I still have that blasted electrode glue stuff stuck on my chest" said Tyler "just be glad were swimmers or we'd have it stuck in chest hair" said Caleb.

They all got a horrified look on their faces. "Well I don't know about you guys but that damn sugar liquid made me nauseous" said Reid "yeah same here" said Pogue. "It was for a blood sugar test" said Tyler "I don't care I'm tired of being a pin cushion," said Reid. They grabbed trays as they got in line. The room was deserted except for several groups of teenagers or preteens.

"Well at least we don't get stared at today," said Pogue Caleb was heading for the table Sarah was sitting at, so they followed him. The girls from the other day surrounded Sarah. "Hey baby, how are you doing" said Sarah "felling very irritated" said Caleb "sorry love but they did it to us all" said Monica. Pogue sat down next to her and Caleb sat next to Sarah.

Tyler chose a seat next to Violet, which left Reid the only vacant seat, next to Selene. "What gives with the other groups?" said pogue. He was eyeing a red haired boy who was watching them."Oh there part of the project too, just different levels" said Sarah.

"What level are we?" said Tyler "oh stage one for you guys and I'm a three but that's because I've been here longer" said Sarah "plus they all have designations, were offensive some of them are support or even clean up" said Selene

"Clean up?" said Tyler "those with thought control, you know to wipe memories and stuff" said violet

"Why would they wipe memories?" said Tyler dumbly the boys looked at him like he was stupid "dur, baby boy so people don't remember what we can do" said Pogue "oh, sorry I'm tired still ok" said Tyler

"Yeah all this violating of our civil rights, not to mention our bodies can take a lot out of you" said Reid "technically you have no civil rights because you've been declared legally dead" said Monica. Reid glared at her angrily, he hated when someone cut off his rant.

"So whose who?" said Tyler Sarah turned to look at the groups and several of the people waved at her. She was obviously well known here. "That table is support, they do stuff like control the weather" said Sarah. She pointed to a table that had an odd looking assortment of Goths and punks. Mixed ironically with a few preppy kids.

A girl with purple hair from the group waved at Sarah, she waved back "who's that" said Tyler "oh that's Silvia," said Sarah. Violet looked away at her tray and boiled her juice.

Tyler turned to look back and noticed her cup was melting."Ah your cup is melting" said Tyler Violet blinked in surprise "oh, oops," said violet. "Violet!" said Sarah "sorry Sarah I lost it for a second" said Violet. "Just throw it away later" said Sarah "here," said Tyler. He handed her his chocolate milk. "Thanks" said Violet shyly.

The other wisely didn't ask anymore about the other groups. Not wanting a repeat performance of violets cup melt down. She had a thing for Tyler and he wasn't so sure she was all that stable.

Lunch ended and Sarah led them into the pool area. They were done with the testing for the day and she wanted to give the boys a chance to relax."Oh wow this pool is huge," said Tyler "yeah its Olympic size, suits are over there, don't worry they haven't been worn" said Sarah "yeah just find a locker and stuff it inside when your done" said Monica. She was heading for the locker rooms.

"Thanks Sarah we really appreciate it" said Caleb. Sarah kissed him in response. "See you in a few minutes" said Sarah. She walked into the girl's locker room. The boys headed for the doors marked boys.

The first thing they noticed was the locker room was huge and the showers had stalls with doors on them. "Wow they didn't spare any expense did they?" said Tyler "come on baby boy do you really believe they spend thousands of dollars on toilet seats" said Pogue."No not really, and stop being such an asshole" said Tyler.

"Case you haven't noticed it yet but were prisoners here despite the gilded bars" said Pogue "yeah we are, but were in it together" said Tyler "besides its not like they'll hold us for long" said Reid. He adjusted the waistband on his swimsuit. "Look lets just make the most of it for now" said Caleb "she'll never come with us you know," said Pogue. Caleb sighed and finished tying the strings on his suit.

"Maybe, maybe not, just give it time" said Caleb "yeah besides there probably watching us for escape attempts" said Tyler. He picked up a towel and headed for the pool, having already changed into a suit. Caleb grabbed a towel and tossed one at Pogue before heading for the pool.

Caleb walked out of the locker room in time to see Sarah jump into the pool. She was wearing a bikini. Violet was in the water as well, oddly for a pyrokinetic she swam quite well. The only one not in the water was Selene. She was sitting by the side of the pool and drawing. Reid gave her a weird look as he passed. "How come you're not swimming?" said Tyler.

"Electricity and water don't mix, honey," said Selene "oh" said Tyler. Violet kept swimming close to him and it was making him nervous."Hi Tyler, you like to swim?" said Violet "yep was on the swim team, why?" said Tyler "just curious that's all" said Violet. "Okay, I'm going to do a few laps, see you" said Tyler. He swam away from her before she had a chance to answer.

Monica was swimming near Sarah and saw Tyler take off like he was being chased. She laughed at him "what's so funny?" said Sarah "oh Violet, seems to have found someone else to stalk" said Monica. "That's not funny Monica Tyler's a friend of mine" said Sarah "well then you best warn him and talk to her, she's scaring him" said Monica

Sarah rolled her eyes and headed for a sullen looking Violet." Hey Vi, what's up?" said Sarah. She sighed and watched Tyler. "He's ignoring me" said Violet "well maybe if you didn't come on so strong" said Sarah "why do you think I'm scaring him?" said violet "oh yeah definitely" said Sarah. "Tyler's a bit on the shy side, just try being nice and not clinging all over him," said Sarah

"Do you think he, likes me back?" said Violet "hard to tell with Tyler, he's a bit weird" said Sarah "oh!" said Violet. "Just try to have fun and let them relax, you know how hard the first week is" said Sarah "okay, sure no problem" said Violet. She swam away from Sarah and did a few laps herself. Sarah swam back towards Monica.

She was talking to Reid and a disgruntled Pogue."Hey guys, enjoying yourselves?" said Sarah "yeah for now" said Pogue. He gave Sarah a look and swam off "ok what was that about" said Sarah "you know the usual with Pogue, he's still mad about losing Kate" said Reid. Caleb was doing laps, trying to relax by losing himself in the water.

Sarah looked away with a frown on her face. "Don't worry about it he'll get over it" said Reid. He was checking out Sarah's swimsuit, which left very little to the imagination. She caught him looking and he grinned at her in response. She shook her head in disbelief, men. "Like your suit by the way" said Reid "yeah I'm sure you do," said Sarah


	12. Chapter 12

Illusion 12

Sarah rolled her eyes and swam away from was ignoring her so she swam over to talk to Monica and a sullen violet. Just as she was about to open her mouth to say something, the loud speaker came on. "All teams to ready room stat" said the man on the intercom. Sarah sighed and followed the girls out of the pool. Caleb swam over to the side when he saw them leaving.

"what's going on?" said Caleb "got to work someone will escort you back" said Sarah "then I'll see you tonight?" said Caleb. Sarah smiled at him."I look forward to it" said Sarah "see you later gorgeous" said Monica .Caleb blushed and didn't wave back but Reid did. Caleb smacked his arm when he watched Sarah's rear end a little too long while she left.

Pogue swam over to Caleb and Tyler promptly followed. "where are they going?" said pogue "something about working" said Caleb. He looked worried despite what he knew about Sarah's abilities. "she'll be ok man don't sweat it" said Tyler "thanks baby boy" said Caleb "So what gives with that violet chick?" said pogue "aw she's in to baby boy" said Reid "yeah but she's a bit psycho for my tastes" said Tyler. "what do you think their doing?" said Reid. "Who knows?" said pogue. he sounded like he didn't really care and the others glared at him.

Sarah waked into the briefing room followed by the rest of her team. The director, Agent Thomas was waiting for them to begin his speech. "ok what we have here is a hostage situation" said Thomas "we have twelve counted hostiles all noted terrorists so they don't care if they buy it" said Thomas. They passed out files while he was talking and Sarah perused hers while he laid out the purposed battle plan.

"offense 1 will take this route eliminate any obstacles and secure the premises" said Thomas "support 1 will provide cover, since its in san Francisco it's optimum conditions for ground cover" said the director. Sarah raised her hand as a team leader she was in charge of making sure they went over the details. "what about local law enforcement and the FBI?" said Sarah "they are being asked to stand down were handling this one" said Thomas "what's our designation?' said Sarah "homeland security, please make sure you wear your badge until we are inside" said Thomas "clean up we need you to handle suppression and neutralization you know the drill" said Thomas "all right dismissed, saddle up" said Thomas.

They headed towards the choppers. Sarah watched as the different groups put on Kevlar vests and donned uniforms to look like government agents. Sarah straitened her collar and slid a gun into the holster. Not that she would really use it but who knew. She looked at her girls; they all wore their game faces. Sarah smiled she actually missed this she realized.

"what's with the grin?" said Selene. Sarah chuckled "just relising how much I missed this" said Sarah "well welcome back to the game sis" said Monica they headed for the chopper pads. Mounted up in one of the choppers and sat back to enjoy the few minutes of peace before all hell broke loose. They flew over the city and Sarah got one glimpse of the golden gate bridge before fog obliterated it from view.

"so it begins" said Sarah to herself. They let the support teams off in one location about half a block from the action. Her team rappelled to the roof of the building and went in from the roof. Thomas was on the ground with support talking to swat commandeer, the police chief and the agent in charge of the FBI. Support was spreading out to do their jobs on the ground.

News cameras suddenly stopped working or had to get shots of the command center just as Sarah's team went in. they made there way down the stairs to the floor above where the hostages were being held. Sarah motioned for Selene to move ahead. Then for the rest as soon and Selene signaled that it was clear."Ok going ghost see you downstairs" said Sarah she vanished before there eyes and walked down the stairs.

The rest of the team hid while Sarah tapped on the door to get the guards attention. He looked through the window, he turned to walk away and Sarah tapped again. This time he opened the door. Sarah grabbed him and pulled him through the door. She blocked the door from closing and pushed the guard over the side rail. Sarah walked ahead of them and made sure no one would sneak up on them. They made their way to the office building where the hostages were being held. Sarah peered in and the unphased her hand out of view to the door but so her team could see it. She held up four fingers indicting there were four guys in the room.

Sarah tried her tapping trick again and one of the men opened the door to check. "what the heck?" he said. then something hit him and knocked him back into the room. The other three raised there weapons and pointed it at the door. Sarah moved towards the other three and knocked one out with a swift blow to the back of the neck. The remaining two pointed there guns at her location but didn't fire since they saw no one there.

Sarah moved around behind them and kept herself between them and the door. One of the men was nervous and his eyes kept glancing around trying to find her. Sarah hit him in the back of the knee. He turned and fired, that's when the girls came in. Selene came in flinging electric bolts. The remaining two gunmen hit the floor. One of the ones Sarah had knocked out came too and reached for his gun. Violet fried his hand and then him when he tried to grab a hostage and escape.

They started untying people. "Monica lead them to the roof" said Sarah. Monica led the frightened people down the hall and up the stairs. They were picked up by helicopter off the roof. Sarah and the others checked the rest of the building. They found two more groups of hostages and some bombs.

They evacuated those hostages too and Sarah called in the bomb team. They did one last through search of the building. Then called it in, the job was done. They were ordered to evacuate and let clean up take care of the rest.


	13. Chapter 13

Illusion 13

Sarah and her team returned to base triumphant. They walked off the helipad with a bounce to their steps. "Job well done soldiers" said Colonel Hawkins. Sarah saluted him and he returned the salute. Even though Sarah wasn't military she still gave him that respect and he acknowledged it in return. "At ease soldier" said the colonel

"go relax soldier you've earned it" said the colonel "sir I was wondering if I might be allowed a special privilege?" said Sarah "what kind of privilege?" said the colonel "I would like permission to dine with one of the new recruits in my room sir" said Sarah the colonel eyed her speculatively for a minutes before replying.

"very well but no funny business, I'll have mess arrange something special." Said the colonel. She smiled and headed into the base falling in step with her girls. She found the guys in the training room and watched as the hand to hand instructor dumped Reid on his ass. She barely stifled a giggle when Caleb dumped the instructor on his. The girls stopped for a moment and watched the guys learn. Pogue was still angry with her and she was certain he would always hold on to that resentment a little bit. The others were a bit more forgiving but not by much.

She hadn't meant to hurt them but she did. She watched pogue attack the instructor with a vengeance. There powers would be useless in there, which was essentially the point. They had to know how to defend themselves without resorting to their talents. Sarah had learned it the hard way; she still remembered the bruises she got during it. She closed her eyes and silently thanked the instructor for all his hard work she had needed it today and it had served her well.

"You aren't going down?" said raferty. Sarah jumped in surprise "no I didn't want to distract them" said Sarah "they have a few issues about still being here still I take it?" said raferty she sighed "yeah but I'm sure they'll come around" said Sarah "I hope so you know what they do to failures" said raferty. "speaking of which I want to up there training do you mind?" said Sarah "of course not I'll see what we can do but you'll have to be sure they can be trusted not to run off" said raferty "what about the tracker?" said Sarah "a possibility but do we really want to waste her time?' said raferty "no maybe we should chip them" said Sarah raferty nodded Sarah was optimistic but at least she was honest enough to admit they could mislead her."I'll make the suggestion" said raferty

Raferty reached for the door."Hey do me a favor tell Caleb he'll be joining me for dinner in my room" said Sarah raferty smirked and walked in the door. Sarah walked down the hallway to her rooms. She had some cleaning up to do and a little rearranging. First thing she did was clean, fortunately it wasn't too messy. Next she showered and changed into something nice. She had moved one of her tables to the center of the room. She had to obtain another chair so she had enough seating but it would work.

She placed the candles on the table after she covered it with a tablecloth. Someone rang her bell. It was one of the lieutenants from the mess hall. He had a second chair and a cart of food. She took the chair and he wheeled the cart into the room. She set up the chair while he unloaded the cart, then he left. A few moments later someone else knocked on her door. She opened it to find Caleb on the other side.

He came into the room with a smile. He glanced around the room taking in the artistic furniture and lavish interior. She could almost see what he was thinking. She smiled at him. "So how did work go?" he asked "great" she answered she couldn't go into details until he was an active member of a team. "So, what did you do?" he asked nervously "the usual save people" said Sarah Caleb nodded in understanding. "You really believe all that hero stuff huh?" said Caleb Sarah nodded yes

"yeah don't you ever wonder why you were born different?" said Sarah she sat down at the table and Caleb sat across from her. he thought about it for awhile "yeah I do but they'll never accept us" said Caleb "yes I know that's why they never know" said Sarah "then why this facility?" said Caleb "because they have some notion we need to be protected even though we do most of the protecting" said Sarah. "Isn't it closer to being a prisoner?" said Caleb

"maybe to some for others it's a blessing to not have to deal with people on a daily basis" said Sarah "then why save them if you don't care for them?" said Caleb.

"Because we've been given this power and it's our responsibility to protect those who need it" said Sarah. Caleb sighed in despair; he had hoped he could reach her and maybe convince her to leave with him. He took a bite of his food angrily stabbing it with his fork.

"why what were you planning on doing with your power?" said Sarah Caleb frowned he hadn't really planned on using it at all. "Nothing I was just going to let it sit there" said Caleb "you're afraid of it" said Sarah he wasn't sure if she was questioning him or stating something. It still made him bristle even if it was true. "Wouldn't you be?" said Caleb

Sarah shook her head no. "No I don't think so I like to think I would be doing what I am now, saving peoples lives" said Sarah Caleb frowned at her statement. "Even if it made you an old woman before you were thirty?" said Caleb she nodded "yes some things are worth it" said Sarah Caleb snorted and cut his chicken in half with the small knife on his plate. "What things?" said Caleb Sarah sighed and leaned back. "people, like the child who isn't made an orphan because you saved her dad or mom or the teenager who will someday grow up to be a doctor because you insured she had one more birthday" said Sarah. Caleb set his drink down and glared at Sarah her words hadn't sounded rehearsed but who knew. He looked at his plate for a few moments.

She reached out and touched his hand with hers. "please try to understand I didn't make this decision lightly you can help people here but you've got to want to" said Sarah. Caleb set his other hand on top of hers and smiled at her ruefully. "So how long before we get to save people?" he said he wanted to change the subject because he was still mad about being here.

The boys weren't very happy about it either. He wanted to find out if they would have a chance to escape some time soon. She sensed the change in his demeanor and eyed him cautiously before saying anything. "you'll only scare the shit out of her" said Sarah Caleb frowned at her and picked up his glass pulling his hands out of hers as he did so. "why couldn't you just leave it alone Sarah" said Caleb she sighed because we need you, I need you" said Sarah

He took another bite of food. Sarah obviously wanted to have a romantic evening but he really didn't feel like cooperating. She sighed he was still mad at her so much for the rest of her plans this evening.

Caleb sighed and eyed Sarah, she did love him and he felt bad bashing her beliefs, even if they were a bit comic bookish. It was obvious she had expected the evening to end in the bedroom. He smiled he was still dating her so why not, maybe if she trusted him he could use her to find a way out of this situation.


	14. Chapter 14

Illusion 14

Sarah could tell he was faking when he kissed her. She wasn't sure if she wanted to take it all the way to the bedroom. She didn't feel like going through the motions without the feelings behind them. So instead she called it off and had him escorted back to his room. She feigned tiredness she was far from feeling and a headache.

As she watched him leave she couldn't help but feel disappointed. Her relationship with him would never be the same. She closed her door and leaned on the backside of the closed door. She was trying to stifle the rising wave of misery that threatened to send her into tears. Reluctantly she had to agree with Raferty they were going to have to be chipped. She sighed and walked over to the table snuffed out the candles and headed for her bathroom.

Maybe a soak in the tub would help relieve her tension. She sighed again and started the water n the tub. When it was filled she stripped off her clothes. Frowning at the lingerie she had chosen for the evening, how disappointing she thought as she watched it hit the floor. She climbed in and sank into the water closed her eyes as she leaned back.

Caleb walked silently back to his dorm room. She had obviously sensed he wasn't in the mood anymore. It irritated him that she had that much influence here to just send him away like a misbehaving pet. The guard opened his door for him and he angrily stomped into his room.

Tyler watched him storm in and tug off his shirt angrily. "didn't go as planned huh?" said Tyler "no she believes this shit' he stated angrily. He wanted to take her with them when they made a break for it. Now he knew she would most likely turn him in. he sighed and ran his hands through his hair. "hey man I'm sorry" said Tyler. Caleb sat down on his bed to pull off his shoes. "yeah me too now go to sleep baby boy" said Caleb.

The next morning Pogue talked to Caleb about the plan. Caleb gave the go and told them to avoid talking in front of anyone else. Reid was keeping an eye on the guards, picking out the lazy ones they could take advantage of while they continued their training. The girls went out three more times that week and Caleb used their absence to plot behind Sarah's back.

He told them to not even think about the plan in the lunch room because he didn't know what some of the other groups could do. He didn't want to find out the hard way that one could read minds. He had no doubt they were being monitored. They just had to find a way around it. On the fourth week there they got their chance. The guards were all watching the game and not really watching the cells.

They used to unlock their doors and used again to slip past the guards. They used four more times to avoid capture before they made their way out the front doors. They crossed the barren landscape, fortunately for them it was night. They slipped past the guards and headed out of the area. They hiked across the open desert until they reached a road.

That's where they got picked up by a trucker. Sarah and her team didn't even know they were gone until she returned from an assignment. She found Raferty, Xavier and the general waiting for her. She knew it was something bad when she saw them all together. She saluted them and stood at attention waiting for the bad news.

"they broke containment" said Raferty he sounded less then pleased by the tone of his voice. "are they being tracked?" said Sarah. The general said "follow me" so Sarah did she didn't bother to hide her frown. As there intake supervisor they had just gotten her in trouble as well as themselves. It irritated her that Caleb would be a party to something so foolish. They entered the command center. On a monitor it showed four dots moving steadily away from the center.

She nodded in relief glad they had taken her advice about chipping them. She noticed the tracker was also present she was hovering over some maps doing her thing. She approached the girl "where are they heading?" she asked "home" the girl answered in a breathless whisper. Sarah looked at the others. "We've already sent agents to intercept them" said Xavier his voice sounded angry to her and she met his gaze. Xavier hadn't liked her since she got here. He routinely referred to the teams as the freaks or freak show. She wondered why he would even involve himself in such a project if he found it so distasteful.

Sarah turned back to the board "how far are they from target?" said Sarah "about twenty miles or so from target" said one of the agents stationed at the monitor. "Good send out the containment teams and be ready with the clean up crews, and tell them to exercise caution" said Sarah she cared about Caleb and his friends but she also cared about her team mates. She wanted to injure both continued to be healthy.

"Already in place" said another agent. One of the radio guys turned to Sarah and her group. "orders?" he asked Sarah was irritated with them for not only causing such a fuss but also jeopardizing everything she had worked so hard for."Tranquilise on sight" said Sarah the general nodded in acquiesce, this was Sarah's mess and he would give her a chance to clean it up.

Xavier snorted in contempt; a freak had no business being in charge he had stated often enough to irritate most of the staff. The general and Raferty ignored his snort and disparaging comments. "Use the nodolax" said Sarah. the tech raised his eyebrows in surprise. Nodolax was nasty stuff that rendered the recipients powers useless as well as giving them a migraine the next day. "A little irritated my dear" said Raferty. Sarah's jaw tightened "you think?" she answered sarcastically.

The boys decided to separate when they reached town so they could talk to their families. Tyler was walking up to the back door of his house when the agents surrounded him on all sides. He used for a brief moment to fling one of the agents to the side.

He passed out on the porch steps after being shot multiple times with the tranquilizers. His stepfather had looked out the back door when he heard the commotion. So they had to call in the clean up crew to wipe his memory. Reid had gone to his dad's work instead of home. He assumed that they would most likely have some one waiting for him. So they ended up tranquilizing him in his father's law firm in front of a room of witnesses. Containment was called again and this time they had to retrieve video feeds and cell phones.

Caleb found his mother in his fathers old house and was able to tell her what was going on before they caught up to him. She screamed at the agents when they tranquilized her son. Clean up had ended up wiping all her memories out in an effort to keep her from going to the press. Since she didn't seem to be deterred by the threats of jail time they gave her.

She watched blankly after they were done with her as they loaded Caleb's unconscious form into an ambulance. She now believed him to be an escaped mental patient instead of her son. Pogue found Kate with one of Aaron's friends. She was necking with him out on inspiration point.

So he decided to go talk to his family. It was between the two places that they caught him. He raised his hands in surrender but they shot him anyways. Then they checked to see if he had made contact with either Kate or his family. Fortunately he never got that far so they left them be. They placed them on another government plane back to the center. They woke up in solitary with armed guards watching there every move.


	15. Chapter 15

Illusion 15

Sarah waited three days before she could even watch them from the observation room. She had been just too angry at them for this very stupid move. Though part of her couldn't blame them if she had family on the outside would she have done the same? She sighed just as Raferty pushed open the door; he was carrying two lattes in his hands.

"self torture isn't good for the soul" said Raferty. he handed her one of the cups. She took it from his hands and took a sip. She was frowning at the huge piece of glass that separated them from the solitary rooms.

"You did the right thing you know they need to stop being coddled" said Raferty "yeah I know I just wish they didn't have to live through Xavier" said Sarah. Raferty shrugged "maybe that's what they need a little ball busting never hurt anyone" said Raferty

Sarah snorted "which one of your ex-wives said that?" said Sarah "hm, number four I think" said Raferty. Sarah laughed at his carefree statement. "They may resent me for doing this" said Sarah "would you rather have their resentment or there funerals?" said Raferty

Sarah frowned at her latte cup and looked up at Caleb's cell. "Truthfully?" said Sarah Raferty nodded yes for her to continue "I would rather they hate my guts then to have to shoot them again" said Sarah. Raferty nodded in understanding "yeah loves a bitch like that" said Raferty "planning to stay for his pep talk?" said Raferty

Sarah nodded yes. "he won't be nice" said Raferty "I don't expect him to be, he wasn't with me" said Sarah Raferty took a sip of his latte before replying. "no some things are best left to assholes aren't they?" said Raferty the door in the cell block opened right on that cue and in walked Xavier.

"speaking of which" said Sarah. Raferty chuckled and took another drink of his latte. She hated what was about to happen but she had agreed to it. The boys needed to know what would happen to them the next time they tied up the agencies resources so thoroughly. Sarah took a sip of her latte, silently thanking gawd that no crisis had occurred while the boys were being retrieved. Though she wouldn't put it past Xavier to make up something just as a guilt trip for them.

Though personally she didn't care what method he used to get them to comply. Her teammates had become her family while she was here and they wouldn't like being exposed just because the boys were home sick.

"the shows about to start" said Raferty Sarah smiled grimly and stepped forward to turn up the audio feed she wanted to hear this. "do you like your new accommodations?" said Xavier Caleb and the others glared at him.

"well you should they were well paid for by your government" said Xavier. Pogue snorted at his statement "let me guess you don't care for authority mister tough guy, lone wolf whatever" said Xavier

Xavier paced the floor in front of the cages. In fact he was surprised he was the one doing this. Even more surprised that Sarah had relinquished her command of this group to him. Though he was glad she realized that she couldn't lead a group when she had romantic relations with one of its members. he was going to really enjoy this and Sarah knew it.

He almost had some respect for her because of it. Well almost as much as he could give to one of the freaks anyways. "Well guess what assholes your mine now, yeah that's right Sarah's not your intake anymore I am" said Xavier he stopped in front of Caleb's cell

"But don't worry you'll see her again and I look forward to seeing her wipe the floor with you four" said Xavier

Xavier paced down the cells fronts again and stopped somewhere near dead center. "frankly I'm disappointed in you boys, what's with the running home to mommy shit little girls do that shit, oh and by the way ours have more of a backbone than to even try" said Xavier

"You can't keep us here" said Reid Xavier turned towards him like a hawk swooping down on a mouse. "Do you want to bet on that lawyer's son?" said Xavier

Xavier opened the folder he was carrying and pulled out a photo of a young woman. "recognize her?" said Xavier. he held the photo up so Reid could see"yeah she's one of the secretaries in my dad's office, why?" said Xavier

He rifled through the folder again and pulled out a second photo "recognize her now?" said Xavier. The woman in question was missing half her face now and had obviously been shot in the head.

"she took video footage of your visit she was going to the media with it, apparently the clean up crew was ineffective with her wipe, sometimes happens for some reason some are immune most fortunately aren't" said Xavier

He smirked wickedly at Reid's shocked face. "Here since it's your fault she's dead have something to remember her by" said Xavier. he tossed both photos at reids feet. Reid stared in shock at the hideous photos

"Man that's sick what's wrong with you?" said Pogue "what's wrong with me! No gentlemen what's wrong with you that you place yourselves above everything and everyone in this place!" said Xavier.

Sarah silently cheered him on she may have hated the man but he had a point. The boys were spoiled brats; the son's of Ipswich was some sort of country club for witches to them.

"we didn't" Caleb started to protest "what's' that rich pretty boy you didn't run home to mommy so you could have your trust fund back?" said Xavier "hey man it's not like that they kidnapped us" said Tyler

"oh boo bloody hoo" snapped Xavier "oh grow up will you, even the eight year old acts more mature than you four" said Xavier "dude then why don't you let us go?" said Pogue "oh go you want to go home what the matter girly boy too much for you, afraid you'll break a nail?" said Xavier

Raferty snorted in laughter then took a sip of his latte to cover it. Sarah was grinning she had to agree with Xavier. Pogue was a bit of a baby. "Well that's just too bad gentlemen you don't have an escape clause here you either do or you die" said Xavier

Then he walked out of the room. Sarah nodded in approval. His methods were harsh but so was the reality of their situation. They could not and would not be allowed to jeopardize the project. It was just too important for it to fail.

"are you going to be ok with that if it happens?" said Raferty. Sarah blinked back to the here and now."I guess I have to be don't I?" said Sarah. Raferty put his hand on her shoulder.

"Hey you'll see them again" said Raferty. she sighed sadly. That would be entirely up to how they acted in the near future "perhaps it's better if they didn't, they don't need the distraction" said Sarah "we'll perhaps in the future" said Raferty

Sarah nodded and headed out the door tossing her empty coffee cup in the trash as she passed a can. She got on the elevator and rode it to her floor. She didn't envy the boys; they had just consigned themselves to hell. It could have been pleasant for them here.

They had changed that for whatever misguided reasons they had been thinking about. Now they would effectively be under house arrest, they would be monitored constantly. There stuff searched periodically until they proved they could be trusted.

Unfortunately that would be awhile and Sarah didn't feel like losing her hard earned status because she fraternized with the wrong person. So she would wait see how they did, keep her self uber busy so she didn't have to avoid them. She closed the door and sank to the floor behind it.

Tears were filling her eyes as she thought about what she was going to have to do. Raferty and the others had always talked about sacrificing themselves for the needs of others. She leaned her head back against the door."I guess this is my sacrifice" she murmured softly.

She wiped fulitly at one eye, she just hoped what she was doing here was worth the price of her heart or was the dream they sold her all an illusion.


End file.
